About Us

Travelers of diverse genders and sexual orientations are a prized demographic in some destinations, and criminalized in others, giving every tourism business an opportunity or a challenge in the LGBTQ market. Or both. HospitableMe helps destinations and brands define those opportunities and challenges, and strategize ways to address them.

For 25 years, HospitableMe has brought our custom content, executive advice and on-site training together with travel service providers and a global audience of LGBTQ consumers.

Our hands-on team is invested in your success. We stay with you through execution, and our clients typically stay with us, increasing their engagement year-over-year.

What We Do

StrategyDiverse travelers are shaping the future of travel in profound ways. LGBTQ travelers have been a highly profitable niche for many years — today they are even more important, as the way they are represented, welcomed and treated can brand a destination as modern, progressive and desirable to a much broader population of future customers.

As advocates for suppliers and consumers, our work starts with strategy to bridge where your business is today, to where it needs to be to welcome diverse travelers of all kinds in the future. With a keen understanding of the financial, political and community implications for tourism businesses, our recommendations are smart, creative, and actionable.

Identify LGBTQ challenges, opportunities and market potential for your business

Create consumer-facing marketing and communications plans

Create action plans for destinations and brands that can’t openly market to LGBTQ

Leverage marketing, communications and training efforts to transform local service culture and increase welcome for diverse travelers of all kinds.

MarketingWith LGBTQ travel related spending reaching US $211 billion annually, there’s great value in target marketing to segments of the community. And there’s even more value in leveraging LGBTQ marketing and communications to reach allies and younger travelers. Many of our clients have strategic goals that go beyond increasing visitation by LGBTQ travelers. We help create communications programs that share a broader message about diversity and inclusion to position destinations and brands as modern, progressive and welcoming. We develop content marketing that leverages LGBTQ voices to elevate and align discussion around new and lesser known products, services and attributes. And we deliver LGBTQ consumers through programs on our own media (ManAboutWorld), third-party platforms including facebook and LGBTQ media, and your own platforms.

Delivery of personalized, anticipatory service to diverse guests of all kinds

Our consumer travel-focused background is a unique advantage in understanding how diversity issues play out in real-world scenarios and building practical, meaningful competency among staff. Our onsite trainings are customized to your specific service paradigms and delivered to small groups of up to 25 employees per session. Friendly, interactive, and emotionally resonant, our sessions explore how ingrained notions of gender, sexual orientation and relationship status have shaped service paradigms, and how stripping away preconceptions and bias allows more engaged and authentic hospitality for all guests. By helping employees understand LGBTQ guests, they become more inclined to engage rather than retreat from interaction with them.

Products + Services

Our strategy, marketing and training programs are delivered through a menu of products that can be deployed a la carte in any combination to serve the needs of your organization wherever your position, objectives or challenges are today. Flexible and results-oriented, we focus on working with your teams, building plans, programs and internal competence so your teams can continue to build on our success. Consulting clients benefit from our extensive network of industry contacts and relationships to foster partnership opportunities and accelerate success.

Everyone WelcomeOur signature educational program is an in-person session with our senior partners tailored for Senior Leaders, Marketing Teams, Membership Organizations and Destination Marketing Organizations. Everyone Welcome provides actionable education for participants, allowing them to define their opportunity, and understand their path to success with LGBTQ consumers and their allies.

Broad overview of the LGBTQ-market and consumer

Specific relevance of LGBTQ to your business

Language, service and legacy systems issues for LGBTQ

Global gender-identity trends

Best practices and competitive analysis in your sector

Recommendations and resources for further learning

Strategic AuditHospitableMe evaluates the inclusiveness of your messaging and imagery. We report on how your brand relates to the audience, identify messaging that may be unintentionally alienating to diverse travelers, and highlight advantageous attributes. We outline recommended steps to make your customer-facing communications more welcoming and engaging for LGBTQ travelers. Our audit provides your leadership and teams with the necessary perspective to plan your engagement with the segment.

Review of consumer-facing messaging and imagery

Identification of product strengths and weaknesses

Benchmarking against best practices in your sector

Market Analysis and PlanBuilding on our Audit, this program takes the findings of the Audit, and builds recommendations and work plans from the recommendations. We work collaboratively with your team to leverage your strengths and opportunities, producing a detailed plan to position and/or promote your destination or brand to LGBTQ and LGBTQ-Ally audiences. Our analysis and plan provides a launchpad for your team, drastically reducing the start-up learning curve and accelerating your success in the market.

Areas for improvement, benchmarked against best practices in the industry, with clear examples and guidance

Recommendations for short, medium and long-range engagement efforts

Response to political, social and competitive challenges

Introductions and referrals to potential collaborators, partners and providers
Onsite TrainingFriendly, interactive, and emotionally resonant, our in-person training explores how ingrained notions of gender, sexual orientation and relationship status have shaped service paradigms, and how stripping away preconceptions and bias allows more engaged and authentic hospitality for all guests. Training audiences leave with new understanding of sexual orientation and gender diversity. They learn how LGBTQ issues are relevant to destination and brands in general, and how those issues play out in your specific circumstances. HospitableMe training leaves your people more comfortable and confident to engage with LGBTQ customers, and deliver more personalized, authentic, intuitive service to all customers.

Up to 6 sessions per day of 25 people per session

Certificates for all participants and your organization

PDF takeaway of key messages and resources

HospitableMe team on call in years 2 + 3

Live webinar trainings each year for new employees

Questions answered on demand

Monthly check-in call

Annually updated PDF takeaway of key messages and resources

ConsultingLean on our team as your internal LGBTQ resource. We provide ongoing assistance to your efforts. Use us as a sounding board, or engage us to complete a mission-critical task. Annual contract holders benefit from our engagement on your behalf as we network in the industry. HospitableMe consulting insures that your LGBTQ efforts are expertly guided through planning, execution and follow-up.

Annual Contracts

Marketing plans

Training

Multi-platform content

Ongoing introductions and negotiations with potential collaborators and suppliers

Hourly Consulting

Specific initiatives

One-off projects

Content DevelopmentEngage our editorial expertise to develop LGBTQ content for your destination or brand. We have decades of experience producing high-quality editorial for OUT & ABOUT, ManAboutWorld, and some of the world’s most sophisticated travel marketing organizations. We deliver content that is relevant, fresh, engaging, inspiring, voice-expanding but always on-brand:

LGBTQ-specific and LGBTQ-inclusive

Short features to full destination guides

Passion focused with special emphasis on culinary, arts, outdoor adventure

LGBTQ-insider recommendations

Local LGBTQ-personality driven

Clients

HospitableMe has been honored to work with some of the most sophisticated and respected brands in the industry.